THE Integrity and Good Governance Division under the Prime Minister’s Department has been upgraded into a full department, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Paul Low.

Noting that the Cabinet had given the green light for the formation of the Department of National Integrity and Good Governance (JITN) a month ago, he said the agency would serve as the coordinating body to lead transformational changes in the public and private sectors focusing on good governance, integrity and human rights.

“Being a department, it will have its own budget and staff to support the transformational changes that need to be done to meet the objectives under the proposed National Transformation 2050 (TN50) plan,” he said during the TN50 dialogue at the Malaysian Institute of Integrity in Kuala Lumpur, today.

Low said the JITN would have links to agencies such as the Public Complaints Bureau, Malaysian Institute of Integrity and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission as well as the Malaysian Human Rights Commission.  

According to the minister, the new department would work with the secretaries-general of ministries to bring about improvements in the culture of the country’s civil service.

Low also said that JITN would also look into ways to address weaknesses in the public service highlighted in the annual Auditor-General’s Report. – Bernama, September 25, 2017.